Friday, May 4

We Feel Your Pain

I know, empathizing with Mark Cuban after a playoff loss is like feeling sorrow for Donald Trump on a bad hair day, but I’m not referring to the Dallas owner, I’m talking about the fans.

You see, Mavericks fan, we know how it feels. At this moment, the entire country is in love with the team that took from you what was rightfully yours. This upstart #8 seed with raucous fans, a ragtag group roster of underachievers, has stolen your entry in the second round; kept you from traveling to the NBA Finals to reclaim what the officials took from you last June.

Sonic fans feel your pain, Mavericks fan. We feel it every time the networks re-run that clip of Dikembe Mutombo clasping the ball to his chest while lying flat on the Colisseum floor. We know what it’s like when the country gets enamored with the underdog, and roots for the lowly seeded upstarts to knock off the expected champion.

You think we don’t still feel the disgust of watching John Elway, that horse-faced jerk, taunting us from the sidelines while the Nuggets began their comeback in Denver? Please, Mavericks fan, don’t insult us.

And Mavericks fan, don’t expect the pain to gradually subside – it will not. If your team fails on a scale such as this, the pain lingers. First, an open wound for a couple of years; then, a deep scar; and, finally, a mark that never leaves.

Like I said, a moment for the Mavericks fan.

Oh, and Maverick fan? Just be thankful your team isn’t owned by someone from Oklahoma.

The sting of 1994 will never fully disappear. I remember after that game 5, going out to dinner with some friends in Alki, walking around the waterfront with my Sonics sweatshirt on and people looking at me and just shaking their heads or staring into space. But at least it's going to fade even further into the distance with upsets like this.

I still to this day wonder what could have happened if the first-round format in 1994 was a best-of-7 instead of best-of-5, and who knows, maybe the Sonics could have rallied? Doubtful, since GP and Ricky Pierce were ready to kill each other at one point in that series, and Mutombo, Robert Pack, Reggie Williams, Brian Williams(Bison Dele, RIP) were playing out of their minds, but still, at least with 7 you usually see the better team win. Oh well.

I would argue that the Sonics shocker was more mentally traumatizing for the fans. Game 5 Sonics-Nuggets was an overtime loss that was an emotional rollercoaster. With the Warriors-Mavs, the Warriors were in control of the series at least since they were up 3-1. That's a lot of time to prepare for a gut-wrenching loss vs. a series that was snatched away from an 0-2 deficit in a manner of a few days.

Just think of what it would have been like if the GS-Mavs series was over in Game 4...that's more comparable to what Sonics fans had to deal with.

i just had to comment on this:"kept you from traveling to the NBA Finals to reclaim what the officials took from you last June." (reffering to the Mavs last year)

that is hilarious. the officials can possibly influence a game by a few calls, but cannot dictate which team wins an entire series. well, actually they CAN but would never get away with it....you know what i mean. people always seem to see the officiating a certain way depending on who they want to win. don't take away from what the heat did last year.

anyway, back to the main point...i was rooting for the warriors simply because this series takes the eyes off of us as the biggest upset in playoff history. the mavs had a better record than us, and it was a 7 game series. :)

All I know is that D-Wade took 46 free throws in the final 2 games of the playoffs. The Dallas Mavericks AS A TEAM took 48.

In other words, all 12 guys on the Mavs roster managed to COMBINED get to the line an extra two times than a single player on the Heat. Hey, I'm not a conspiracy theorist and I don't think that the league is in bed with the networks as much as other people say, but you can't deny that those numbers are slightly shocking. If Sonic fans are going to - legitimately - gripe about that game 7 against the Suns when Charles Barkley took 58 free throws, then Mavericks fans can gripe about Wade getting to the line the way he did in the finals last year. Plus, when you have other NBA people saying that the finals were slightly ridiculous (PJ Brown, Phil Jackson, T-Mac, among others) then it adds even more credence to the Dallas argument. Even the Maverick players themselves say that Mark Cuban hurts their team with his incessant bitching about foul calls.

I'm a Spurs fan. I got no love for the Mavericks. But they got historically hosed in last year's finals. As a fan, it was infuriating to see the refs throw things so heavily in favor of the Heat. That team and that title were a fraud.

That said, man this Warriors team is fun. Can't wait to see them knock off Houston/Utah.

Yes. I can agree with that. DWade got to the line A LOT. He get special treatment just like LeBron, Kobe, Dirk, Ray, T-Mac, etc... Although I would also agree that DWade is somewhat of the golden boy of the league so he may get even more treatment because of that...but that is definitely debatable. If you are going to make that point then you have to admit that there were some very questionable calls in favor of Dirk in the series against the Spurs. I don't know the stats, but I remember watching and thinking "Wow, they could have easily made a no-call there."

All I was trying to say is that aside of Wade being a great free throw shooter, the other Heat players made a lot of clutch plays to win that series.

I guess the best way to interpret what I originally wrote was that Mavericks fans universally felt that they got hosed in the Finals last year, and that this year was their opportunity to prove that they were the best team. Whether I think they got hosed, or you think they got hosed, or David Stern thinks they got hosed doesn't matter: What matters is that Dallas fans felt that they were robbed of their rightful title.

From that high pedestal of pride, it was a long way for them to fall in a first-round knockout.

I feel for the Dallas fans and the Dallas players. Anyone who's really behind a team knows what it's like to to have great expectations and then have the rug pulled out from underneath you. I'm not from Texas or CA but the only reason I was pulling for Golden State in the series had the initials of MC. I know he does alot for the team but because of his antics I just wanted to see his reaction when they lost.

I'll second that (in regard to Cuban). I respect the heck out of what he has accomplished in his life, and anyone who likes the NBA has to respect what he has done to elevate that franchise, but the way he continues to insinuate himself into everything Maverick-related is getting tired. I almost wish he WOULDN'T buy the Cubs, just because he'd take all the credit if they started to finally play well.

On the other hand, how much money would you pay to see a reality TV show detailing the daily activities of the Chicago Cubs ... with Cuban as the owner and Lou Piniella as the manager?

Yo everything about the series aside, the Warriors played better than the Mavs straight up. It don't matter how many games you win the regular season and how. If you can't close out games and your MVP-candidate superstar shoots 1-0f-10 in a half, you're gonna lose. The Mavs choked. They had no answer for Davis, Jackson and J-Rich. And they played horrific offense (was only horrific considering it was the Mavs playing).

I think had the MVP voting been done after the playoffs, Nowitzki would have zero chance of winning. MPVs step up and dominate... regardless of what the opposing team does.

The Sonics got things moving by requesting and receiving permission to speak with Dallas assistant Sam Vincent about their coaching vacancy, according to a Mavericks spokesperson Tuesday night. Vincent is the first known candidate Seattle has expressed interest in since Bob Hill was fired April 24.